Rolfing

The book had been cut with a sharp knife on the bottom right side. Same place and same cut as 3 other books received before. Also the box had been opened

Bought as a gift for my son, who is a physiotherapist . He is enjoying the book.

滞りなく予定通り到着しました。本の中身は英語の為、翻訳する方法が必要ですが、内容は間違いなく良作です。また海外業者様からの購入でしたが、対応がとても丁寧で素晴らしかったです。

This book is very well written and does an excellent job in explaining the theory behind the technique known as Structural Integration (aka Rolfing). The book convincingly shows the importance of the body being in proper alignment within its own structural "pattern" so as to be able to function efficiently within the Earth's gravitational field. This is called being in a state of "equipoise." A body not in alignment is referred to as a "random" body in Rolfing terminology, and the random body has less energy, less functional efficiency, and is much more susceptible to the negative effects of gravity.As an interested lay person, I found the text of the book to be quite adequate in portraying Ida Rolf's perception of the human body and the significance of the fascia tissue. For those wanting more detail, however, there are about 600 photos and diagrams with extremely detailed captions.The book claims that the only way to restructure the body is through manual manipulation (as practiced in Rolfing). Even yoga, a superior form of physical exercise, according to to Dr. Rolf, cannot achieve this. Rolfing is portrayed as holistic (monism) in nature, which essentially means that anything which affects the mind affects the body as well; conversely (and this is where rolfing comes in), anything affecting the body has something of a corresponding affect on the psychological aspect of a person. I found Dr. Rolf's references to this to be very interesting and worthy of further contemplation.Dr. Rolf states in the book that Americans tend to over-exercise, and that the "Body Beautiful" mentality (spending way too much time in the gym pumping iron in an effort to look like Charles Atlas or Arnold Schwarzenegger) is misguided and based on a lack of understanding of what constitutes genuine health. In fact, she points out that muscles often become unnaturally shortened in this manner, reducing elasticity and causing the body-builder's body and mind to become too rigid. The key to health and vitality, according to Dr. Rolf is structural integration. She is totally believable and her book certainly altered my point of view on what constitutes optimum health in the human body.I also found particularly interesting, the correlations Dr. Rolf points out on several occasions between the structural alignment of the physical body (or lack thereof) and a person's experience of living life. This book is not a "how to" manual, as the only way to learn Rolfing, apparently, is to be trained at the Rolfing Institute in Boulder, CO.After finishing the book, I was left with the sense that we all could be greatly benefitted by getting "rolfed." I first heard about Rolfing in 1976 and have been wanting to go through the process myself ever since then. I am currently doing so now.What I find strange is that there are only 10 reviews of this book on Amazon. For a book that's been out as long as it has (1977) One would expect hundreds of reviews to have been written about it, considering that Rolfing is globally known and respected to a very high degree.

Written over 20 years ago, this book is still well worth reading. Some of the images and phraseology seem a bit dated but the information they contain is still very relevant. The book contains the theories of structural integration (and very little "How to..." knowledge) but from this those that have some knowledge can look at the clients/patients in a new way and hopefully help them to recover.It is also very nice to read a book by an author that believes that the human body can improve again from learnt bad behaviour, rather than people just having to put up with it and take a pill.

I've only just gotten through the first 40 pages, but so far so good. This book is well written and informative. It has given me a clearer picture of what rolfing entails and other areas of bodywork that I may want to study.